-LRB- CNN -RRB- The story of his selfless act went viral , but for Raymond Burse it was simply second nature .

`` I 'm not extraordinary , '' said Burse . `` I 've assumed that people do those kinds of things all the time . ''

In summer 2014 , Burse , who is president of Kentucky State University , gave up $ 90,000 of his almost $ 350,000 salary so that 24 of the university 's lowest paid workers could earn $ 10.25 an hour . The move gave them a 40 % pay increase .

`` I do n't mind giving up some of what I have been able to obtain through life in order to be a small help to them in their own lives , '' Burse said .

Burse 's help did n't end there .

The 63 year-old later surprised KSU football player Deshon Floyd with the remaining $ 2,000 he needed to do an internship abroad . In December , Burse offered high school shooting victim Javaugntay Burroughs a full scholarship .

`` With all the things they had to deal with , one of the things they should n't have to deal with is whether this young man was going to be able to go to college , '' said Burse .

Burse 's actions spurred a pay-it-forward movement around the university , with an increase in small acts of kindness and donations to the school . `` I was amazed at how many people got involved , '' said Burse .

`` It really mushroomed , so it has not stopped . We are still talking about paying it forward . ''

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It is not often you meet a person who is ingrained with a giving spirit . Burse said he has his mother and father to thank for grooming him to be both a giver and an achiever .

`` My mother was very active in the community . We did n't have much , but she would always share a part of what we had , '' Burse said .

A country boy at heart , Burse grew up as the youngest of 13 children in Hopkinsville , Kentucky .

`` There was n't a lot of money to go around , '' said Burse . `` Going through that process I learned a lot about sacrificing , waiting your turn and being thankful for what you have . ''

Although his father attended school only through the third grade and his mother the seventh , Burse was a Rhodes Scholar , a graduate of Harvard Law School and a university president by age 30 .

`` What they believed was if their children got an education , the education would serve them well for their entire lives , '' said Burse .

That education did indeed serve Burse well . After serving as Kentucky State University 's president for eight years in the '80s , he went on to have a highly successful career with General Electric as vice president and general counsel of GE Consumer & Industrial .

After working at GE , Burse did n't have plans to come out of retirement .

`` We would say that for every year you work at GE it is like working eight years somewhere else , just in terms of what GE required and demanded of you , '' said Burse .

Burse remembers going into his retirement `` happy , content and enjoying '' himself .

But when KSU President Mary Evans Sias announced her retirement in May 2014 , Burse immediately got a call about filling her seat . At first , he said he was n't interested .

`` I did that for three to four weeks and finally I went to lunch with a couple of my friends , a couple of them Kentucky State graduates , '' said Burse .

`` They played the guilt card on me . ''

Burse discussed it with his wife for a few weeks , and then decided he could come back for at least a year to help the university stabilize .

Burse came in expecting to be at KSU for a year , but he 's now signed on to be there another three-plus years .

`` I think we are all placed on this Earth to do something , to do something good , '' Burse said .

`` I consider Raymond Burse to be an ordinary individual who works hard , who believes in people and in the power of people . If you give and work with people , good things will happen , '' he said .

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Raymond Burse volunteers to take a $ 90K pay cut to give livable wage to 24 workers

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Move by Burse , president of Kentucky State University , gave them a 40 % raise

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Burse also has given a shooting victim a scholarship , a football player $ 2,000 to study abroad